News / Afghanistan

Infighting reportedly injures Afghan Taliban chief

Wednesday, 02 December 2015 5:30 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 December 2015 5:31 PM ]

A photo published in the Long War Journal on June 16, 2015, shows the new Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour.

The Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, has been injured during a violent militant infighting in Pakistan, the Afghan government and Taliban sources say.

Sultan Faizi, the spokesman for Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, said on Wednesday that Mansour was wounded in a firefight following a verbal argument at a meeting of senior militant commanders.

The spokesman said it was still not clear whether the Taliban leader had survived.

"Mansour was seriously injured. He was rushed to hospital and we are not sure if he survived his wounds," media outlets quoted Faizi as saying.

Meanwhile, a Taliban source close to Mansour's group also confirmed the account, saying that at least four people were killed and a number of others injured in the fierce gun battle.

"Akhtar Mansour is among the injured but the extent of his injuries is not clear," AFP quoted the militant source as saying.

The meeting was reportedly held at the home of Abdullah Sarhadi, a commander in Mansour's group and a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner.

"There were differences on some points which later turned into harsh words, then Sarhadi opened fire and the others returned fire," the Taliban source said.

Sarhadi was held for more than three years in the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. He was later released.

Sarhadi was detained again later on by Pakistani forces, then released in 2012.

The Taliban have seen a string of defections in recent months following the news of the death of Mullah Omar, the former leader of the Afghan militant group.

In this archival picture, Taliban militants stand on a hillside at Maydan Shahr District of Wardak Province, west of the Afghan capital, Kabul. (AFP photo)

The splinter groups within Taliban have refused to pledge allegiance to Mansour, who was elected in late July after the announcement of the 2013 death of Mullah Omar.

The Taliban said they had concealed his death for two years as they did not want to make it public until foreign forces would have ended their fight against the militants in Afghanistan.

There have also been growing differences among Taliban elements over peace talks with the Afghan government, with some vowing to fight for power instead of taking part in negotiations.

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